When former Avondale resident Erika Smith kicked her boyfriend out of her home in the spring after he stopped paying rent, she said she fell behind on bills.
She was concerned she would lose power in the home she and her teenage daughter lived in, she said in a phone interview.
After reaching out to United Way and receiving $1,500 in September from the Chattanooga Times Free Press Neediest Cases Fund, Smith was able to pay her electric bill and make rent on the brink of eviction.
Smith has multiple sclerosis, and after working at local nursing homes in the Chattanooga area for years, she had to step down because she could no longer help lift her patients. Her illness made finding work opportunities difficult and left her to rely more on disability income.
Her daughter, who was 18 at the time and starting college, was working at Five Guys to help Smith make ends meet.
“It was keeping the lights on for my younger daughter and making sure she had somewhere to lay her head after work and after college,” Smith said.
Smith, 41, also has older children who no longer live with her. When Smith was at risk of losing her home, she was worried there wouldn’t be a place for her granddaughter to visit.
Although Smith was able to keep her home after the close call, a persistent rat infestation and a desire to move to back to Washington state, where she and her teenage daughter lived briefly in 2019, sent them packing.
The city had followed up on Smith’s complaint about the rats, and a city employee told her the conditions in the house would likely lead to it being condemned. She said she didn’t stick around to find out what ended up happening to the house, and she was renting, so she left the rat issue to the landlord.
Now, she and her daughter have relocated to Washington, and she said they’re in a great place. She said the nature is as beautiful as it is in the movie “Twilight” and the mountains are breathtaking.
“When you pray and give it to God and let him handle it,” Smith said, “I promise you, everything falls together perfect.”
After an extensive job search in her new home, Smith landed a job in the nursing home industry and is completing training before starting the position. Her daughter is working in health care while she waits to resume college in the spring.
(READ MORE: Neediest Cases helps family restore running water to Spring City home)
She hopes to take her daughter to visit Seattle this summer.
The Times Free Press Neediest Cases Fund was started in 1914 by Adolph Ochs, then the publisher of The Chattanooga Times. The fund receives donations from Times Free Press readers, and the money is administered and distributed to individuals and families in need by the United Way of Greater Chattanooga and partner agencies.
Recipients must be working or on a fixed income and be able to demonstrate ongoing stability and self-sufficiency after receiving Neediest Cases funds. According to United Way figures, the Neediest Cases Fund took in more than $57,000 last year.
Contact Sarah Dolgin at sdolgin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6556.